Malaga storm alert: markets and shops lose revenue due to forced closure and no customers
Despite the lighter rain in the city, the warning has scared residents away from the streets and shop owners have had to throw away perishable goods
Malaga's traders have criticised the city council for 'unnecessarily' scaring people away from the streets on Wednesday, when the city was under an amber alert for rain.
Markets remained closed as an official preventative measure, but those who work there believe that fear-mongering has only led to financial and produce losses for them.
Although it didn't stop raining the whole night between Tuesday and Wednesday, the weather in Malaga city has not been adverse on Wednesday, with light but consistent precipitation in the morning. On any other day, the streets of the centre would be busy and the markets crowded, but the amber alert and the city council's advice have kept people home.
While it has wreaked havoc in other parts of the province, storm Leonardo does not seem to be headed towards a red alert on the Costa del Sol capital.
Shops were allowed to remain open, but almost no customers walked through their doors. Market traders, who could not open their stalls due to municipal restrictions, are now calculating the losses of a day on which they could have worked. Perishable goods such as fish will end up in the rubbish bin. Greengrocers will try to save what they can for Thursday.
President of Malaga markets David Ruiz told SUR: "Many are very annoyed because, in the end, it is nothing more than an imposition. We are left with no choice but to close. Imagine what this is like for a stall that has to sell already reserved fish, for example. We are talking about perishable goods. It's no longer that you stop invoicing, it's what you lose. We still have to pay fixed costs and nobody compensates us."
Although shops and other businesses operating on public roads could remain open on Wednesday, their revenues from the day are not much different. Successive warnings and recommendations to avoid unnecessary journeys have kept most Malaga residents home. With schools and universities closed, Malaga's streets were empty even at midday, when it was not raining anymore.
For any business, the customer is the fertiliser. President of the traders' association of the city centre Rodrigo Bocanegra called for more "fine-tuning of the warnings". "The Aemet [state meteorological agency] is very reliable and there was no red alert for Malaga. You can't make these general warnings," he said.
Bocanegra said that small businesses no longer have the margin to cushion a day like this Wednesday. "We are without customers, but we have to keep paying our workers, electricity, water... We try to inform people that we are open today, but there is no one here. On top of that, they put you in a situation where it looks like you are doing something wrong if you open your establishment," he stated.
According to Bocanegra, Aemet is no longer the authority that measures the risk. "We are all paying for the mistake of the former president of the region of Valencia," he said, alluding to the fatal 'dana' tragedy when the former head of the regional government - Mazón - did not act in time to prevent the death of hundreds of people.
President of the Mahos association of hoteliers Javier Frutos also supports more tailor-made warnings and regulations. "January and February are very weak months anyways. With today's alert, there are practically no people on the streets. A day like today has a big effect on turnover," he said.
